


Tatsuya and Atsushi's awkward reunion

by pizZiCcato



Series: MuraHimu Week 2015 [5]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, And not well-written, Birthday, Childhood, Day 5 Entry, Gen, M/M, MuraHimu Week 2015, Nerunerunerune, Pulled the title out of my ass, So please forgive me, This is REALLY rushed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 22:44:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5108321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pizZiCcato/pseuds/pizZiCcato
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tatsuya returns to his hometown after ten years of living in America. He meets his childhood friend who still likes Nerunerunerune.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tatsuya and Atsushi's awkward reunion

**Author's Note:**

> Day 5: Nerunerunerune (10/30)
> 
> Birthdays  
> Childhood
> 
> Now I'm posting half-assed shit

“Hello, Mom? I’ve landed at the airport. I’m waiting to get my luggage now.”

_“Oh, Tatsuya! How was your flight? When are you going to get home?”_

Tatsuya moved his phone to his other ear as he adjusted his backpack’s strap. “It wasn’t the most comfortable, but not too bad. I’ll probably be there in a few more hours.”

An excited sound from the other side. _“That’s great! What do you want to eat for dinner, dear?”_

Tatsuya hummed as he thought, still trying to find his luggage among other people’s. “I don’t know. I haven’t eaten your cooking in years, so I’ll let you surprise me. Oh, how’s our neighbor?”

_“The Murasakibara family? They’ve been great. You used to play with their son a lot, right? You won’t believe how tall he’s gotten! He’s really grown up!”_

Tatsuya laughed. “Is that so? I have grown up too, you know.” He finally spotted his luggage and started hurrying there. “Gotta go now, I’ll talk to you later, Mom!” he said quickly before hanging up.

After pushing and elbowing his way through the crowd two times, Tatsuya finally took hold of his luggage. He adjusted his red scarf around his neck and was about to leave when someone called out rather loudly. “Hey, guy with red scarf over there! That’s my luggage!”

Tatsuya turned, a slight frown creasing his forehead, and tried to find the one who’d said that. He didn’t really have to look hard.

_This guy is huge_ , Tatsuya thought as he blinked up at the man standing in front of him. How exactly had he missed someone so tall? If his height wasn’t enough to catch his attention, surely his _purple_ hair would’ve done the job, yet magically, Tatsuya hadn’t noticed him at all while really, he should’ve spotted him from miles away.

_When did he get so close?_

“Is this yours?” That man held up what looked a lot like Tatsuya’s luggage, but it can’t be because Tatsuya was holding it, so Tatsuya raised the luggage in his hand to eye-level…

… and noticed the weird lollipop-shaped thing hanging from one of the straps.

Definitely not his luggage.

“Uh. Yeah, that’s mine. This must be yours.” Tatsuya awkwardly held out that guy’s luggage. He must’ve been daydreaming or something when grabbing this thing.

That guy took his luggage and gave Tatsuya his. “Thanks,” he said shortly before promptly strutting off.

Tatsuya checked the luggage he was given to check that it was his. Thankfully, this time he’s not mistaken. He sighed and started walking. Now he has to catch the bus.

 

_That huge guy is riding on the same bus as Tatsuya._

Once again, how had he missed someone so big? He had seen the guy before and _he’s huge with purple hair_ so how had Tatsuya not noticed him when getting on the bus?

Oh well. It’s got nothing to do with him. That guy’s sitting a few rows behind Tatsuya, so it’s not like they had to talk or anything. Now, if only that guy would stop staring at the back of Tatsuya’s head…

Tatsuya yawned. Traveling from America to Japan is exhausting, especially if you can’t sleep on the plane. Sleeping on buses is easier, though, so Tatsuya should be able to catch a few hours of sleep.

 

“Tatsuya, you’re back!”

Tatsuya laughed as his mother pounced on him. “Nice to see you, Mom.” He patted her back gently.

She pulled back, grinning widely. “My, you’ve grown! Not as much as the Murasakibara boy, but you’ve grown!”

Tatsuya’s father stood behind his mother with a large smile of his own. “Welcome back, Tatsuya. Don’t worry, you’re plenty tall enough. If you get any taller, your mother and I might break our necks just from trying to look at you.”

Tatsuya smiled, taking in his parents’ appearance. The graying strands of hair among black, the increasing lines on their faces… The past ten years had really happened. Tatsuya had grown up and his parents had aged.

Sometimes Tatsuya still couldn’t believe that he had gone to study abroad so early in his life. He’d missed ten years of life that could’ve been spent with his parents.

“Sorry for not coming to see you in the last ten years, Mom, Dad,” Tatsuya said softly.

Mother smiled. She patted his arm. “You’ve returned, Tatsuya. That’s the only thing that matters.”

 

“Aren’t you going to see the Murasakibara boy, Tatsuya? You used to be such close friends,” Mother said from the kitchen as she cooked their dinner.

Tatsuya stretched on the couch. “I don’t know. We haven’t seen each other in ten years, does Atsushi even still remember me?” He grunted when he felt the joints on his back pop.

“You won’t know if you don’t try, right?” Father said as he read on his armchair. He used to sit there all the time back then, Tatsuya remembered.

Tatsuya’s forehead creased slightly. “Randomly showing up after ten years without news is weird. What am I supposed to even say to him? I have no idea what he’s like now. Heck, I don’t even know what he looks like now.”

“He still likes sweets,” Mother said, “You should get him something. Maybe that Neruneru thing he used to eat all the time?”

“It’s Nerunerunerune,” Tatsuya corrected, “And I don’t think he still likes that.”

“You won’t know if you don’t try,” Father said again. “Now go get him that thing and find him.”

 

Tatsuya found himself standing in front of their neighbor’s door about half an hour later with a plastic bag full of candies. After shuffling around nervously for a few minutes, he finally raised his hand to knock on the door.

Heavy footsteps sounded through the door. Tatsuya started fidgeting again. His parents had told him to come here, but he had no idea what he was supposed to say when he meets anyone from the Murasakibara family. Before he could make up his mind about running off, though, the door had opened to a looming figure. “Who is it?”

Tatsuya blinked. Hey, he’d heard that voice before. He slowly looked up, eyes widening.

Standing in the doorway is the huge purple-haired guy from the airport. His hair was disheveled and sticking up haphazardly. He was wearing a huge shirt, which looked really wrinkled. He blinked down at Tatsuya slowly, forehead creasing. “You look familiar.”

Tatsuya’s mind reeled as he tried to put a name on this guy. He can’t be Atsushi’s father, because he’s too young (Tatsuya didn’t remember Mr. Murasakibara being so tall anyways). Atsushi only has sisters, so it can’t be his brother. He also recalled that Atsushi’s uncles and aunts aren’t married, so it couldn’t be his cousin.

It can’t be Atsushi, right? No way, no way…

_“The Murasakibara family? They’ve been great. You used to play with their son a lot, right? You won’t believe how tall he’s gotten! He’s really grown up!”_

Tatsuya looked up into the half-lidded eyes still watching him intently. “You’re… Atsushi?”

The crease in between his brows deepened, then finally his eyes widened in recognition. “Muro…chin?”

 

_“Muro-chin, wait for me!”_

_Tatsuya laughed as he kept running ahead. “You’re slow, Atsushi! You’re never going to catch me at this rate!”_

_Atsushi whined as he ran. “Slow down a little!”_

_Tatsuya looked over his shoulder. “If you can catch up to me before we get to the store, I’ll buy you all the sweets you want!”_

_That seemed to motivate Atsushi, because his eyes lit up instantly. “I want Nerunerunerune!” he yelled, somehow finding the strength to speed up. In a few minutes, he had caught up to Tatsuya and was soon running ahead._

_They both heaved for breath when they finally stopped in front of the convenience store near their house. Tatsuya started laughing soon after. “So you can only be motivated by sweets, huh?”_

_Atsushi smiled, just a little bit. “I want Nerunerunerune,” he repeated, sounding more triumphant than he should be._

_Tatsuya smiled. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s get your candy now, Atsushi.”_

 

Tatsuya blinked. “Wow. You’ve… grown up. A lot. What have your parents been feeding you?”

Atsushi’s eyes went half-lidded again. “Sweets. Muro-chin, you’re short.”

Tatsuya laughed. “You’re just too tall, Atsushi. To think that I had once been taller than you…”

Atsushi just stared. Tatsuya scratched the back of his neck. This is awkward. Then, “Where have you been, Muro-chin?”

Tatsuya looked up. Atsushi’s expression was unreadable, so he turned away. “I went to study abroad. Sorry I didn’t tell you back then, I had no idea what to say.”

“You could’ve at least kept in touch with me,” Atsushi muttered. He scowled at the ground and looked so disappointed, as if Tatsuya had truly broken his heart when he left ten years ago.

_Shit. This is bad._ That look on Atsushi’s face was making Tatsuya feel like the biggest jerk alive. “Sorry, sorry! I’ll make it up to you, just stop making that face, alright? I’ll… We can hang out together tomorrow?”

Atsushi lit up at that, just slightly. “Really?”

Tatsuya smiled, relieved that he’d erased that broken look from Atsushi’s face. “Of course. Tomorrow at ten? Morning, of course, just like the old times.”

The corners of Atsushi’s lips curled up slightly, barely enough to be called a smile. “Okay.”

 

_“Hey, Atsushi. What’s Nerunerunerune like?”_

_Atsushi paused in the process scooping up the paste-like candy. “Eh? Muro-chin has never tried it?”_

_“No. It looks weird. How does it taste?”_

_Atsushi tilted his head. “It doesn’t really taste that good, but I like mixing the things,” he said with a shrug._

_The corner of Tatsuya’s lips quirked up. “It seems interesting enough.”_

_Atsushi looked down at his candy, frowning as if in thought. Then he held it out to Tatsuya. “Muro-chin can have this.”_

_Tatsuya blinked at the plastic container in Atsushi’s hands. He laughed lightly. “Nah, you can have it. I’ll buy one myself if I want it.”_

_“Oh.” Atsushi then started eating his candy again. Tatsuya watched with a small smile at Atsushi’s happy look._

 

Atsushi came over at ten o’clock sharp the next day. Tatsuya’s mother looked downright ecstatic while his father seemed happy in a calmer way.

“Muro-chin, there’s some places I want to show you, can we go out?” Atsushi then said.

Tatsuya glanced at his mother, who smiled and nodded, and turned back to Atsushi. “Of course. Let’s go.”

Atsushi smiled, small but happy, and proceeded to drag Tatsuya around the town. He showed Tatsuya many places around the town, most of them having to do with sweets. Tatsuya reveled in the way Atsushi’s eyes lit up whenever he talks about sweets and can’t help getting excited himself.

A few hours later found them sitting on a bench in a park, a pile of plastic bags on the floor beside them. Tatsuya looked at Atsushi. “We bought a lot.”

Atsushi shrugged. Tatsuya laughed. “My wallet’s empty now, but I’m happy so that’s okay,” he said again.

“We should start eating,” Atsushi said. He dug into the plastic bags and pulled out a Nerunerunerune packet.

Tatsuya raised his brows. “You still like those?”

Atsushi nodded. “They’re fun.”

Tatsuya laughed. “You used to eat them all the time. Still can’t understand why.”

“Have you tried them?” Atsushi took out a bottle from one of the bags and poured some water on the plastic container inside the Nerunerunerune packet.

“Nah. Watching is enough for me.” Tatsuya rested his chin on his hand and watched as Atsushi started mixing the powders in the sachets inside. “It looks fun, but I doubt the final result tastes good.”

“It doesn’t,” Atsushi confirmed, “But the process is fun.”

Tatsuya just smiled. He looked on as the candy started changing color. Atsushi was silent as he started eating.

“Muro-chin,” Atsushi called softly, “Today is your birthday, right?”

Tatsuya raised his brows. “You remember?”

Atsushi scoffed. “Of course I remember. Do you think my memory is that bad?”

Tatsuya couldn’t hold back his smile. “You kind of give off that impression.”

“Shut up.” Atsushi looked away. He kind of looked like a sulking kid. He scowled at his candy, then suddenly shoved it at Tatsuya. “Here. Happy birthday.”

Tatsuya blinked at the plastic container in Atsushi’s hand and recalled the same thing happening in the past. He felt a laugh bubbling up his throat and didn’t try to hold back. Atsushi looked at him, confused and just a bit offended, as Tatsuya started laughing his ass off.

Tatsuya didn’t really know how long he laughed, but when he finally calmed down, Atsushi had his back turned to him, seemingly sulking. _Shit. He’s offended him._

“Oh. Atsushi, sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you, don’t get angry, okay?” Tatsuya touched Atsushi’s shoulder lightly. Atsushi didn’t move away, so Tatsuya took that as a good sign. “Heeey, Atsushi? I’m sorry.”

Atsushi didn’t budge, so Tatsuya continued. “I’m sorry, Atsushi. I wasn’t laughing at you, I was just remembering something from ten years ago. You once offered me Nerunerunerune back then, and now you’re doing the same thing, so I thought it’s really interesting.”

Slowly, Atsushi turned to glance over his shoulder at Tatsuya. “You remember?”

Tatsuya smiled. “Of course I remember. Do you think my memory is that bad?”

Atsushi pouted, turning away again. “You were still laughing.”

“Aw, come on, Atsushi! You know I didn’t mean to offend you, right?” Tatsuya nudged Atsushi’s shoulder with his own. “C’mon, don’t be angry, ‘kay?”

For a moment, Atsushi kept silent. Then he held out the almost-forgotten candy to Tatsuya. “You should try this.”

Tatsuya looked down at the shapeless paste and almost grimaced, but he managed not to so he didn’t offend Atsushi any further. “If you say so,” he said instead, and used the small spoon to scoop up some of the candy paste.

Atsushi watched intently as Tatsuya ate the thing. “How is it?” he asked. He looked too much like a child like that.

Tatsuya’s forehead creased slightly as he tried to put the taste into words. “It’s… not too bad,” he began, “but it could’ve been better.” He gave the container back to Atsushi. “You can have them.”

“But it’s your birthday present,” Atsushi half-heartedly protested, even as he stared at the candy in his hand.

Tatsuya laughed. “Nah, getting to spend the day with you is enough.”

Atsushi blushed. Tatsuya laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> This is sooo rushed. I shouldn't have procrastinated, now I'm posting half-assed shit.  
> I know almost nothing about Nerunerunerune, by the way.


End file.
